News

London,

06

February

2011

|

00:00

Europe/London

Record breaking recycling on estates

Residents of Hackney’s estates are recycling at record breaking levels. Official figures show that by the end of last year, recycling levels were at their greatest ever, with a massive 315 tonnes of recycling collected during December. This is the equivalent of 35 London buses and beats the previous record by 15 tonnes.

With around half of all people in Hackney living on an estate, good access to recycling facilities is very important. Hackney Council has installed 2500 recycling bins around the borough’s estates, far more than previously available.

The new estate recycling bins have been designed to collect a wider variety of materials than the old banks. The new estate bins now collect mixed plastics, cardboard and tetrapaks like juice cartons.

During November and December the recycling team visited over 5000 properties to speak to people about their local facilities and how they could recycle more. It has been estimated that over 60% of household waste can be recycled.

If everyone living on an estate recycled everything possible a massive 1500 tonnes for recycling could be collected. With costs for waste disposal souring, this could save the Council £100,000 each month. This money could be spent on other services.

Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said:“Our residents are recycling more than ever which is fantastic news. The improvements to facilities on estates are making it much easier for residents to recycle. But we now need to do even more. In Hackney we are wasting over £100,000 each month just by throwing away rubbish on estates that could be recycled. This money could be put to good use.”

If you live on an estate or in a block of flats and don’t yet have recycling facilities please call 020 8356 6688.

For more information about recycling in Hackney visit: www.hackney.gov.uk/recycling